Pedro Manuel Brito da Silva Girão
University of Lisbon, Portugal
Title: Wireless Sensor Networks and Environmental Monitoring
Biography
Biography: Pedro Manuel Brito da Silva Girão
Abstract
Wireless sensor networks are, as the name indicates, wireless networks whose nodes are devices with sensing capabilities usually materialized by what is commonly called smart sensors. This type of distributed measuring system, which is still at an early stage of development, finds application in an increasing number of fields: environmental monitoring, habitat monitoring, health monitoring, military surveillance, precision or smart agriculture, process monitoring, stock control, just to mention a few. IT is a multidisciplinary subject involving in particular sensors, electronics, signal processing, programming and telecommunications. In the talk, and after introducing and framing wireless sensor networks, the different aspects involved in the design and implementation of such type of measuring systems are presented and discussed. Emphasis will be placed on the state-of-the-art and principal difficulties still to overcome in the different components of the network. To open the discussion on the subject, the talk will end with the presentation of up to four examples taken from the author’s experience: rivers/lakes/ocean water quality monitoring, ambulatory patients’ health monitoring, smart agriculture in greenhouses, and composting monitoring and control